Somebody made avery improviso comment lately that Pakistan is not
under-developed, it is an under-managed country. Take for instance our financial sector.
We have got some of the most sophisticated set-ups but all at the verge of collapse just
because of poor strategic management and lack of timely decision making. Especially DFIs
which, by charter, are meant to support and streamline economic entities, are themselves
turning into sick entities. Astonishingly huge infected portfolios have become stones of
their chains that prevent them from appearing on the surface of the ocean of losses. The
only hope is transparent and vigorous management. Management is what makes an organization
rise or fall. IDBP has taken a good step by identifying the sick units for disinvestment,
at least it shows that the management is ready to take initiatives. We would like to know
what other DFIs are doing with their non-performing projects. Because it's high time the
authorities stop sheltering the defaulters, commence the proper utilization of whatever
little funds are left and get rid of this Psychological Hedonism which is the root cause
of all Adhocism.

Lahore FARIDA

FLOOD-GATES OF MINI-BUDGET

Promises are meant to be broken. Nobody breaks them with better ease
than our ruling decision makers.

Finance minister Ishaq Dar has no qualms to dishonour his promises of
no mini-budgets as the flood-gates of all taxes imaginable, as well as
unimaginable, have opened to please the all-powerful IMF. The wishes of the IMF are are be
honoured. The needs of the electorates could wait.

A government which never misses an oppurtunity, appropriate or
otherwise, to express its inability to provide jobs and basic health and education
facilities to its citizens has become more and more agressive to tax the people to death
and to issue barrage of threats to those who dont comply to its taxation orders.

The fact that taxes are meant to service the people has never been
questioned by the educated and informed section of this decadent society of ours.
Pertinent questions such as where these taxes are spent and how it benefits the people are
never being raised from any quarter. Doesnt the people have the right to demand that
their taxes should be spent on them.

Instead, the bulk of the revenue collected goes toward paying the
installment of huge foreign and internal debts which were syphoned off to the foreign bank
accounts. Instead of recovering the massive loot stashed outsiide the country as well as
the bank loans gobbled up with a powerful politicians the people are made the escape goat
to pay for the plunder of their corrupt politicos and bureacrats.

Instead of resorting to mini-budgets the loot should be recovered. The
people neither took these loans nor they benefitted in any way from it.